The invention relates to an absorbent textile material in sheet form for use as a cleaning cloth, or as a non-skid underlayment or the like, consisting of a consolidated nonwoven material of natural and/or synthetic staple and/or continuous fibers which is surface-coated on both sides with a binding agent.
German Patent No. 1,560,738 has previously disclosed a porous, highly absorbent nonwoven material which is provided on both sides with a binding agent, especially a binding agent applied from a dispersion in the form of a foam. The binding agent uniformly covers the entire surface in the form of a film which partially penetrates into the nonwoven fabric. Thus an especially great resistance to abrasion is achieved. The nonwoven material is suitable, for example, as a household cleaning cloth, window wiping cloth or the like. Although the resistance to abrasion is greatly improved by the coating of binding agent, the coating modifies the characteristics of the inherently soft nonwoven fabric to make it more like a plastic product. Therefore, compromises must be made in accordance with the purpose of the material, in that either a very wear-resistant, but no longer essentially textile-like product is made by means of a correspondingly heavily applied coat of binding agent, or a soft cloth is made with a very thin binder coat but is not free from pilling.